This was the first night I had taken pictures. There are always a fair number of independent photographers in the audience, but I had not brought a camera until last night. This was our last Tuesday in Kingston for a while and I wanted to capture some of the excitement. Apologies for the photo quality. My built-in flash is not up to this kind of work.
The night started off kind of strangely with a slim, attractive young white woman playing alternative rock and techno on the sound system. This is not the kind of music we usually hear here. One of the groups she played was Peaches. That and the others I did not know, but really enjoyed. This was hard driving music, heavy on the bass and ready for dancing.
The first act of the night was a women singing and accompanying herself on the guitar. Saffron covered a few songs and sang some of her own. She was pitchy, to say the least, and her guitar kept misbehaving. Either that or she kept missing chords. You have to start somewhere. The crowd gave her a good bit of support, though.
Then came Jason Worton, singing his own work. This guy is a bit of a musical prodigy! He plays guitar, harmonica, and the flute. He coaches other singers and musicians. Later on in the show he played lead guitar for two acts. His songs are pretty meaningful, but his singing voice is not always strong.
He's a good looking guy, though, and the fans were enjoying him.
At this point there was a bit of confusion over who would go next. Finally a young woman in tight pants and minimal top came out. She sang very strongly, but the crowd's focus was on her hotness. Her style was kind of rappish, but she was not backed by a band. I think her name was Kali.
Not sure why, but she came off the stage after only one song. She told Danny later that she "couldn't afford more." At any rate, she lit up a doob and enjoyed the rest of the night from the audience.
Next came Random Chaos. This was an act dominated by a tall, blonde young woman (Dominique) with an incredible voice. She brought the house down. She sang, she got rowdy, she growled like Janis Joplin, she played the guitar. Everything she did was right on the money. Again I was amazed at the direction music is going in Jamaica.
I happened to be sitting next to Tessanne Chin's mom at that point in the evening. Tessanne and her sister are local phenomena. Tessanne was sitting right next to her mother. The sisters are very strong here in Jamaica. I was talking to her Mom about our experience with jazz, blues, rock and roll, and other music right there in Village Cafe. I asked her where she thought this was coming from. She thought it was coming back into Jamaica from the US and Europe.
Next came the headliner, Crimson Heart Replica. This group was absolutely dominated by the young woman singer and guitar player, Kathy Williams. At just 23 she had the audience completely in her hands. It seemed effortless to her.
As you can see, she is a bit alternative in her appearance. She sang about her brown skin, tattoos, and piercings. If I am not mistaken there was a definite feeling of alternate lifestyle in the air. At one point I heard one woman say to another "Why are you here with a man?" You never know, but could this be something new for Jamaica?
(Strangely, I learned later on that Katherine went to school with our niece Tif.)
One of the other things I have remarked on in earlier postings is the support that musicians give each other. Wayne McGregor (lead guitar and singer for Black Zebra) came onstage for a song.
While that was going on our young singer was playing the drums very credibly.
A bit later Tessanne Chin came on. She has a remarkable voice. It is strong, clear, perfect in pitch, and capable of being raucous as well. Tessanne and Kathy sang a duet about the need for women.
The crowd really enjoyed themselves. There was a little dancing, many excited faces, and a lot of clapping and whistling going on.
I could not keep myself from going up to the performers and telling them how good they were. They are so gracious! Kathy said a simple "Thank you, sir" and shook my hand. Sir? I'm trying to tell her she is the best thing since sliced bread and she is still polite enough to Sir me. Amazing!
(Our niece told us that it is the Immaculate Conception training at work; politeness was a requirement there. Today I read a little on Katherine's MySpace site. She wrote about her loneliness and isolation, and her feeling of difference among other things. I just wanted to tell her "You rock! Hardly anybody else does. Your work is amazing. Let yourself enjoy it, knowing that others love it!" I'm not "sir", I'm a fan.)
A couple of other people helped make the evening memorable, Cherie Doucile (spelling?), the announcer for the acts. We just met her a day or two ago in another role as video producer.
Tracey has been our bartender the whole time we have been here. She is friendly and very helpful. She also has a beautiful smile.
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